Fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) major Hindustan Unilever (HUL) on Monday reported 21.18 per cent year-on-year (Y-o-Y) rise in standalone net profit after tax (PAT) at Rs 1,848 crore for the second quarter ended September 30, 2019, helped by home care, and beauty and personal care verticals. Excluding corporate tax rate benefit, the PAT stood at Rs 1,832 crore, up 20 per cent.
"The company had posted a profit of Rs 1,525 crore in the corresponding quarter last year," HUL said in a filing to the Bombay Stock Exchange.
Net sales of the country's largest consumer goods maker increased to Rs 9,708 crore in Q2FY20 as compared to Rs 9,138 crore in Q2FY19.
During the quarter under review, total income grew by 5.16 per cent to Rs 10,032 crore as against Rs 9,539 crore, helped by its home-care and food and refreshment portfolios.
The earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) rose by 21 per cent to Rs 2,443 crore from Rs 2,019 crore in the same quarter last fiscal.
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Commenting on Q2 results, Sanjiv Mehta, Chairman and Managing Director said: "Amidst a challenging market environment, HUL has delivered another quarter of resilient performance and sustained margin improvement. Our focus on consumer value, excellence in execution and market development continues to serve us well."
The near-term outlook for demand, especially in rural India, remains challenging, he added.
Segment wise, revenue of home care vertical increased to Rs 3,371 crore in July-September 2019 from Rs 3,080 crore, while beauty and personal care segment revenue rose to Rs 4,543 crore from Rs 4,316 crore in the same period of last year. The revenue of foods & refreshment segment stood at Rs 1,847 crore in July-September 2019 against Rs 1,704 crore in the same quarter of last year.
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The company said that its board has declared an interim dividend of Rs 11 per equity share of face value Re 1 each for the financial year ending March 31, 2020. "Dividend will be paid to the shareholders on or after November 05, 2019," it said.
In a separate development, the company said it has appointed Willem Uijen as Executive Director, Supply Chain and a member of the HUL Board with effect from January 1, 2020. Uijen succeeds Pradeep Banerjee who is retiring after a successful career of four decades, it added.
Ahead of Q2 results, shares of HUL closed trade at Rs 2,014.70 apiece, up 0.50 per cent, on the BSE.
Edited by Chitranjan Kumar